Carton with integral spout



May 18, 1965 H. G. MOHLER CARTON WITH INTEGRAL SPOUT Filed July 17, 1963 INVENTOR.

HARRY G. MOHLER A T TORNE Y United States Patent 0 3,1$4i,137 CARTON WETH INTEGRAL SPOUT Harry G. ltiohier, 1633 E. Maiden St, Washington, ?a. Filed July 17, 1963, Ser. No. 295,678 3 flaims. (Cl. 229-17) My invention relates to a container for finely divided particles and more particularly to a container of cardboard or similar material which is provided with a spout through which such contents may be poured so as to empty the container.

In accordance with the prior art, of which I am aware, many attempts have been made to find a configuration for the construction of a box-type container wherein the pouring spout is an integral portion of the blank from which the box is made. For various reasons due to inherent limitations of sizes of containers, type of materials, and practical methods of assembly, no practical solution has been found to this problem and, therefore, manufacturers have turned to producing a carton containing a metal pouring spout which must be inserted at the factory which fills the cartons and cannot be inserted at the factory which makes the cartons because the presence of the metal spout makes folding and shipping of the cartons impractical.

It is, therefore, an object of my invention to provide an improved carton of cardboard or similar material which is provided with a practical pouring spout shaped from an integral part of the blank from which the carton is made.

It is another object of my invention to provide a method of fabricating an improved carton.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a multi-sided container which may be formed from a single piece of material wherein a spout is provided which covers the spout opening in the container and whereby the spout is in a flat condition prior to use by the consumer and the spout sides are easily and automatically folded into the proper configuration by a slight outward pull on the base of the spout by the finger of a customer.

In attempting to solve the aforesaid problem, I have recognized that a spout piece can be located on the inside of the container, disposed adjacent an opening in the outer wall of the container, and that the spout piece could be readily foldable as it was pulled through the hole in the outer wall of the container if a rigid member could be inserted from the rear, such as something in the nature of a can-opener. However, since the average consumer such as a housewife, is not going to be interested in having such a special tool present, I recognized that this was an impractical solution. I also recognized that a flat strip of metal, slightly narrower than the width of the hole in the wall of the container could be placed behind the spout member and this would produce the required rigidity for causing deformation along predetermined lines (which are straight since controlled bending along a straight line produces less resistance by the object being folded than does folding along indiscriminate arbitrary irregular lines). It also occurred to me that a piece of cardboard of the same paper stock as the walls of the box, if out smooth- 1y along straight lines could be glued to the inside of the spout and could give the required reinforcement to the fold line and a metallic object would therefore not be required. However, here again, such a configuration would require additional steps in the production of the carton by the addition of a separate piece of cardboard.

It then occurred to me that a practical effect could be obtained by a reverse procedure whereby the reinforcing member is on the outside of the carton and is tightly attached or glued over a wide area of the spout base so that the rigidity of the outer support piece causes a pull along the predetermined deformation lines of the spout piece when a pressure'is exerted against the center of the spout piece in an outward direction, which is the type of pressure applied by the human finger when pulling on such a tab. 1 found that these effects could be accomplished by employing a blank comprising four parallel side panels genorally in the order of a wide panel, a narrow panel, a wide panel, a narrow panel and then extending from the last mentioned narrow panel, a narrow glue flap and then having, attached to the outer edge of the glue flap, an appendage comprising the spout member and the spout support member which is foldable back against the inside of the glue fiap and the last mentioned or fourth side panel so as to be on the inside of the box when assembled and providing a glue line up and down the center of the appendage so as to fasten the center portion of the spout piece to the wall of the box. Thus, when the wall of the box is properly cut or perforated, a portion of the wall of the box is bent outward while such portion is in rigid contact with the center portion of the spout piece. The outer wall of the box therefore provides a hinge member which also acts as a support member which causes the spout piece to be deformed in the proper manner along predetermined lines.

While I have attempted to summarize my invention in the foregoing comments, nevertheless, the invention itself will be better understood from reading the following description in connection with the appended drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view from the inner side of a blank for the construction of a carton in accordance with my invention.

FIGURE 2 is a showing of a section of the plan view of the blank shown in FIGURE 1 with the appendage folded over so as to show the cooperation between the appendage and the fourth wall panel of the box.

FIGURE 3 is a side view, partially cut away, of a carton in accordance with my invention wherein the spout is in an open position.

FIGURE 4 is a top view of the carton shown in FIG- URE 3.

In accordance with the preferred embodiment of my invention, I provide a carton of rectangular shape constructed of a material such as cardboard or similar semirigid or semi-iexible and deformable material. Such a carton is constructed from a pro-stamped blank which has been cut, creased and perforated into the desired configurations and then is folded upon itself and glued at the proper places so as to be ready for use. a

The cardboard blank in accordance with the preferred embodiment of my invention comprises four parallel sections or panels. With the blank oriented so that as the observer is looking at it as a plan view from the inside, and oriented so that the top of the blank is the portion which is destined to become the top of the box, the blank comprises, starting from the right, a first panel 8 which is a wide panel, a second panel 10 which is a narrow panel,

3 a third panel 12 which is a wide panel and a fourth panel 14 which is a narrow panel. Attached to the last mentioned or fourth panel, on the outer or left'edge thereof, I provide a glue flap 16 which is preferably approximately one-half inch in width. 7 i

For ease of understanding I shall refer to the dimensions of a common relatively standard box wherein the wide panels are four inches wide, the narrow panels are two inches wide and the glue flap is one-half inch wide, and which would hold approximately two pounds of dense granulated foods such as salt or sugar. The main body of the panels are seven inches long, having appended thereto at their upper and lower extremities upper closure .fiaps 18 and lower closure flaps20 to be used for effecting closure of the top and the bottom of the finished carton.

Attached to the glue flap at the left hand side of the series of panels, I provide an appendix or appendage 22 of the same material as the rest of the blank, which appendage is shaped, as will be more apparent from the description hereinafter, so -as to be folded against the fourth panel and to provide a spout piece on the inside of the box which may be pulled through the wall of the box by the consumer.

On the fourth panel, which has been described by way of example as two inches wide and seven inches long, I provide two perforatedly-defined door sections which door sections, when the perforations are broken, form upper 24 and lower 26 cooperating doors, one hinged from above and the other hinged from below and swinging about horizontal axes. constitutes an access flap whereby a finger of the consumer may be inserted through the wall of the box breaking the perforations and then the finger may be used to pull the spout piece out. The upper or access door is preferably substantially semi-circular in shapesince the rounded configuration makes the initial separation of the perforated edges easier. Thelower door 26 cooperates with the upper door as has been mentioned, to provide a closed unit, therefore, the upper portion of the lower door piece, which is shaped out of the wall of the box, is shaped in a concave semi-circle so as to cooperate with the lower portion of the upper door. The sides of the lower door in the fourth panel can be vertical or parallel or, as shown, they can be flared or inclined outward or away from each other toward the upper end.

The appendage portion 22 of the blank comprises a supg is located on either side of the center section. The appendage flap 22 is constructed, dimensioned, oriented and attached so'that when it is folded upon the fourth panel 20, the central portion 30 of the spout piece is substantially contiguous with and coextenseive with the lower wall flap 26 so that when the side or wing pieces 32 are folded perpendicular to the center section so as to form a complete spout, the spout may be pulled'or hingedly moved through the opening defined by the lower flap 26 in the fourth panel 20 of the box blank. 7

In the assembly of the box, glue is first applied to the appendage in a vertical direction along the center of the appendage in a strip 34 approximately one-half inch wide. The appendage 22 is then folded along the line of the outer edge of the glue flap 16 to which it is attached. The glue strip 34 on the appendage 22, whichstrip is one-half inch wide, is sufiiciently wide to cover most of the center section 30 of the spout portion ofthe append age without getting any glue on the wing portions 32 of the appendage. Thus, when the appendage 22 is folded over against the fourth panel 20, the center portion 30 of the spout portion of the appendage will be horizontally centered with respect to the lower spout flap 26 so The upper cooperating door 24 4 s 7 that the center portion 30 of the spout piece will become glued to the lower flap 26 in the fourth panel so that the two become effectively one reinforced piece.

After the appendage 22 is folded over and glued fast to the fourth panel 20, the glue fiap 16 attached to the fourth panel 20 is then coated on its outer side with a strip of glue 36 approximately three-eighths inch wide. When glue has been applied to the outer side of the glue flap, the glue flap 16 is then fitted against the inside and near the edge of the first panel 8 and pressed against the first panel so as to secure an adhesion between the glue flap and the first panel.

. The production stage 'of processing the box is now complete. The box now constitutes a unit with closed sides and with open ends having flaps 18, 20 to be employed at the factorywhere the box is filled for closing the ends. In this configuration the box is ready to be box is then filled with the goods for which it has been destined, such as salt or sugar, and then the upper closure flaps 18 are closed and sealed to make a completed unit for distribution to a customer.

When the ultimate consumer receives the box, constructed in accordance with my invention, the said box having been filled with product and sealed as described above, the consumer pushes' in on the upper flap 24 on the side of the box causing the perforations to break and allowing access into the box. When the upper flap 24 has been opened, the finger may be inserted'through the opening left by the upper flap. Gentle'pulling on the lower flap and spout piece, which are now joined together as one, with pressure from inside the box by the finger, will cause the center portion of the spout piece which constitutes the bottom of the spout, to be pulled through the hole in the wall of the box defined by the lower flap 26 in the wall of the box. As the center portion of the spout is pulled through the box, the sides of the opening through which it is moving, will cause the side flaps 32 to be bent inward smoothly and easily so as to form a completed spout. Since the lower flap 26 in the outer wall of the box has been glued to the center section 30 of the spout appendage, the lower tab of the outer layer of the box forms a reinforcing piece for the center section 30 of the spout appendage so as to make the center section 30 of the spout appendage remain relatively flat and thereby cause the folding to be along smooth straight lines at the edge of the center sectionof the spout portion of the appendage. Thus, the deformation of the side flaps of the spout is controlledand the bending occurs along a straight even line with a minimum of resistance.

I claim as my invention:

1! A blank for forming a multi-sided container having a portion of one sidewall of double thickness, said blank having tab portions thereon for forming the top and the bottom of the container, .a first side of said blank having adjacent the upper edge thereof a pair of perforatedly' defined portions defining a pair of tabs which project toward each other and said blank having a glue flap extension along the edge of said first sides, an appendage connected to said first side of said blank having a cut portion shaped to provide a spout which is disposed to be adjacent and movable through the opening defined by one of said tabs when said appendage connected to said first side of said blank having a cut portion shaped to provide a; spout which is disposed to be adjacent and movable through the opening defined by one of said tabs when said appendage is folded against said first side.

2 A blank forforming a four-sided container com prising four serially adjacent side panels, a glue flap substantially narrower than any of said side panels extending along the outer edge of an outer panel of said side panels, said outer panel having a perforatedly defined tab therein, a spout appendage extending rom said glue flap and comprising a cut portion shaped to provide a spout which is disposed adjacent and movable through the opening defined by said tab and wherein the center portion of said spout is glued to said tab, and wherein the spout appendage is located entirely above a horizontal liner through the center of said blank.

3. A blank for forming a rnulti-sided container comprising a plurality of serially adjacent parallel side panels, a glue flap substantially narrower than any of said side panels extending along the outer edge of an outer panel of said side panels, said outer panel having a perforatedly defined tab therein a spout appendage formed as an exten sion of said glue flap and comprising a cut portion shaped References Iited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,539,985 6/25 Allen 229--17 1,837,750 12/31 Becker 229-17 1,907,939 5/33 Venning et al 229-17 2,002,364 5/35 Daller 229---17 X FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Primary Examiner.

to provide a spout which is disposed to be adjacent and 15 GEORGE O RALSTON, Examiner. 

1. A BLANK FOR FORMING A MULTI-SIDED CONTAINER HAVING A PORTION OF ONE SIDEWALL OF DOUBLE THICKNESS, SAID BLANK HAVING TAB PORTIONS THEREON FOR FORMING THE TOP AND THE BOTTOM OF THE CONTAINER, A FIRST SIDE OF SAID BLANK HAVING ADJACENT THE UPPER EDGE THEREOF A PAIR OF PERFORATEDLY DEFINED PORTIONS DEFINING A PAIR OF TABS WHICH PROJECT TOWARD EACH OTHER AND SAID BLANK HAVING A GLUE FLAP EXTENSION ALONG THE EDGE OF SAID FRIST SIDES, AN APPENDAGE CONNECTED TO SAID FIRST SIDE OF SAID BLANK HAVING A CUT PORTION SHAPED TO PROVIDE A SPOUT WHICH IS DISPOSED TO BE ADJACENT AND MOVABLE THROUGH THE OPENING DEFINED BY ONE OF SAID TABS WHEN SAID APPENDAGE CONNECTED TO SAID FIRST SIDE OF SAID BLANK HAVING A CUT PORTION SHAPED TO PROVIDE A SPOUT WHICH IS DISPOSED TO BE ADJACENT AND MOVABLE THROUGH THE OPENING DEFINED BY ONE OF SAID BATS WHEN SAID APPENDAGE IS FOLDED AGAINST SAID FIRST SIDE. 